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Vitamin C jab slows growth of cancer

Injecting a large dose of vitamin C into mice started a chain reaction that destroyed cancer cells in mice, according to a research team at the National Institutes of Health. Brain, ovarian and pancreatic tumors were cut in half by the injection, and the scientists say the same approach could slow the advance of cancer in humans.

The researchers used a dose of four grams per kilo of body weight, far higher than could be achieved by diet alone. The vitamin mixes with the chemicals found in a tumor and creates hydrogen peroxide, killing the cancer cells. By injecting the vitamin C into the abdominal cavity of mice, the researchers recorded a 41 percent to 53 percent drop in tumor weight and growth.

"These pre-clinical data provide the first firm basis for advancing pharmacologic ascorbate in cancer treatment in humans," the scientists concluded.